The present invention relates to a method of production of an instant beverage composition of the white coffee or coffee substitute type.
Instant beverages of the white coffee or coffee substitute type may be produced by dry mixing of a basic powder, generally a coffee extract and a soluble coffee or coffee substitute powder. Soluble coffee or substitute may have been added to the liquid extract concentrate before final drying. During the preparation of the basic powder, stabilising salts are added to the milk to be preheated and then sterilised by UHT, in order to prevent the flocculation of the proteins both during the preparation of the powder and during the reconstitution of the beverage in the presence of coffee.
Dry mixing has a number of drawbacks. It is difficult to mix the powders in a completely homogeneous way. On reconstitution, moreover, the powder mixture does not always dissolve to provide a beverage whose appearance is completely homogeneous. There is also a loss of aromas.
It has been proposed, for instance in U.S. Pat. No. 2,398,081, to mix the coffee and milk by wet methods in the form of concentrates that are then dried to provide a homogeneous powder. This method makes it possible to avoid the additional stage of dry mixing. It has come up, however, against problems in the sense that it has not been possible completely to eliminate a visible flocculation of the proteins when the beverage is reconstituted with hot water.